Huskers give North Carolina punter Ben Kiernan his first scholarship offer

[joncarl]

A lot of assumption in this statement that it is the coaches that gave up. Maybe he did not like being replaced and told the coaches when he got demoted that he wants to leave. Now mine is as much speculation as yours. However, mine is only in response to you blaming the coaches. My point is none of us have any idea what the coaches have in mind with this offer.

Absolutely we have no clue, and my wording was all wrong, didn't mean to say the coaches have but listening to the fans, I believe the fans have given up on him. I would doubt that the coaches have.

 

[HuskerInTexas]

No starters job should be safe. These coaches realize that their job is to put the best team out there at every position.

There is also not a quota for Nebraska kids getting positions. They have to earn them like everyone else. As it should be.

Not sure how my post implied that starters jobs should be kept safe or that we need a local quota?

We had a long history here of finding either in state talent and/or walk on talent to fill special teams positions while allowing more scholarships to be available for other positions. And not only was the in state talent good, it was NFL level by the end of it. Maybe the skill set has dropped off for walk ons and local kids but would love to get it back. 4 year scholarships for kickers and punters who don’t pan out is a tough pill to swallow (Example: Lightbourne)

 

[Twelve String]

Don't like it, but Frost knows best.

My thoughts exactly. Seems like a waste of a scholarship to me, but like you said Frost knows best.

 

[All 'N' 011808]

He was in town for Junior day on April 7, too.

 

[Red Reign]

I know I maybe in the minority but the top programs for the most part have scholarship kickers, punters and long snappers. If the room is there and there is a need I have no issue with it. To say its a wasted scholarship I have to disagree. Drew Brown and Jordan Ober have more than justified it as I think Barrett Pickering will now he is settling in.

Anyway just my two cents worth.

 

[One Hit Wonder]

I know I maybe in the minority but the top programs for the most part have scholarship kickers, punters and long snappers. If the room is there and there is a need I have no issue with it. To say its a wasted scholarship I have to disagree. Drew Brown and Jordan Ober have more than justified it as I think Barrett Pickering will now he is settling in.

Anyway just my two cents worth.

Two cents plus two more. I like the idea of distributing scholarships for other positions of need and Nebraska has had a great tradition of walk-on specialists. However, in the first few games we saw what horrendous punting allowed as far as the opposing team's field position is concerned. Ultimately, it puts stress on the defense and Nebraska paid the price.

 

[All 'N' 011808]

"If you have a 10-yard difference in starting field position over the course of a game," Nebraska head coach Scott Frost said Thursday, "that's going to be a 100-yard difference in hidden yardage and that leads to points."

Simple enough. Intuitive enough. Frost was talking about the impact of special teams then, but he also listed turnovers and field position as two of the stats he pays the most attention to during a season. Those were two categories the Huskers struggled in early in the season, though things have started to turn around of late.

And that made me wonder what it actually looks like for Nebraska through the 10 games it has played this season. If you just stacked all of the yards the Huskers had to gain to score a touchdown on every drive this year and compared it to the same number for Nebraska's opponents, how much "longer" was the Huskers' field this season?

Here's your answer.

The total number of yards Nebraska would've had to travel this season is 812 yards more than its opponents had to. So for the season Nebraska's field was about 80 yards longer than the opponent's in a game on average.

 

[ShortSideOption]

I know I maybe in the minority but the top programs for the most part have scholarship kickers, punters and long snappers. If the room is there and there is a need I have no issue with it. To say its a wasted scholarship I have to disagree. Drew Brown and Jordan Ober have more than justified it as I think Barrett Pickering will now he is settling in.

Anyway just my two cents worth.

I think there’s a difference between “having scholarship kickers, punters, and long snappers” and offering them out of high school. Everyone has their kickers and punters on scholarship, how they get them there is the question.

 

[ShortSideOption]

I know i've preached this before, but just want to go over it one more time...

Nebraska as we all know used to have a rich tradition of taking walk-ons and turning them into all-conference or all-americans at the specialists positions. Most recently the late Sam Foltz, who was the conference punter of the year. It's not difficult to start rattling off the list of guys who have walked on and became great. The reasons are plentiful. First, you aren't giving a scholarship to a guy like a Caleb Lightbourn just right out of the gate. You are making someone earn it and prove that they are worthy on and FBS football field. Secondly, you can get a guy to actually be valuable to you and you don't even have him on scholarship yet. The best example is Alex Henery who beat out our scholarship kicker and was kicking game winners for "free". You get the chance to have a kid "prove it" first before committing to him. Also, no matter how good the kid is and his ranking, there's usually a first year "lull". Drew Brown ended up being a stud, but his first year had people worried.

But let's just go thru the specialists we've offered out of high school:

Barrett Pickering (2018) - TBD but continuing the freshman struggles campaign
Caleb Lightbourn (2016) - Bust, beat out by a walk-on, transferring out of the program
Jordan Ober (2015) - Bust, beat out by a walk-on
Drew Brown (2014) - Hit
Gabe Miller (2013) - Bust, retired
Mauro Bondi (2011) - Bust, beat out by a walk-on, transferred
Adi Kunalic (2007) - Bust, beat out by a walk-on

So our only luck so far (hopefully Pickering pans out) is a Nebraska legacy. There's 2 kids each year that could kick or punt at the level Nebraska needs them to, and they will walk-on. I think once we get things clicking, it will happen back this way.

 

[coherbie]

Ober (senior) started most of his career, as did Lightbourn (junior) - not saying they're great, but bust seems harsh.

peaked early

 

[djlhuskerfan]

I just wonder if Lightbourn would have been better being able to redshirt and perfect his craft. Sad, unfortunate situation he was thrown into the fire before he was ready and his confidence has suffered since. Plus the rugby style kicking hasn't helped him either.

 

[Bleed Red]

Two cents plus two more. I like the idea of distributing scholarships for other positions of need and Nebraska has had a great tradition of walk-on specialists. However, in the first few games we saw what horrendous punting allowed as far as the opposing team's field position is concerned. Ultimately, it puts stress on the defense and Nebraska paid the price.

From a scholarship punter by the way.

 

[Red Reign]

I think there’s a difference between “having scholarship kickers, punters, and long snappers” and offering them out of high school. Everyone has their kickers and punters on scholarship, how they get them there is the question.

My point being I have no issue out of high school if the need is there and we have determined its the right kid. Understand your point fully though and do not disagree if the coaches deem that the way to go

 

[Red Reign]

Two cents plus two more. I like the idea of distributing scholarships for other positions of need and Nebraska has had a great tradition of walk-on specialists. However, in the first few games we saw what horrendous punting allowed as far as the opposing team's field position is concerned. Ultimately, it puts stress on the defense and Nebraska paid the price.

We agree and as I said based on need

 

[djlhuskerfan]

Even if we give a scholarship to punter or kicker, there is no guarantee they will be here all 4-5 years. I don't see us filling all our available scholarships so give the kid a shot